Fico says Ukraine cheated Slovakia on gas

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico targeted Ukraine again after the meeting of European Union leaders on Brussels on May 28.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico targeted Ukraine again after the meeting of European Union leaders on Brussels on May 28.

Ukraine “brutally cheated on us” in 2009 during the gas crisis, the Sme daily quoted Fico as having said. “They did not help us and had been speculating until the last moment,” Fico said. He was probably hinting at the fact that after Russia halted the gas delivery to western countries, Ukraine used the remaining gas for its own consumption.

Marian Majer of the Central European Policy Institute told Sme in an interview that “this is a series of attitudes that have defined us as part of the group of states that hold anti-Ukrainian, or pro-Russian attitudes”. “It is not the first statement of this type; when Fico said recently that Ukrainians are not able to manage the state and this statement was preceded by a series of claims that Slovakia should not help Ukraine,” he said, as quoted by Sme.

Majer suggested that the pretence of Slovakia’s economic interests that might be harmed by sanctions towards Russia could hide some other reason: more individual interests of some individuals, business groups or lobbies. The analyst concluded by commenting that such a stance uttered publicly can harm Slovakia, as it thus denies the official hierarchy of values.

(Source: Sme)Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reportsThe Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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